Card payment management device, card payment management method, application program, and terminal device

Abstract

To provide a settlement management apparatus, a settlement management method, an application program, a card settlement management apparatus, and a settlement management system, configured to perform processing to automatically deposit electronic money at more appropriate timing, thereby improving convenience of a user.SOLUTION: A settlement management apparatus includes: a communication unit which communicates with a card settlement management apparatus that provides an electronic settlement service using a card; and a settlement processing unit which performs electronic settlement using multiple settlement methods including the balance. When receiving a request from the card settlement management apparatus for an electronic settlement using the balance and if the remaining balance of a user is lower than an amount to be settled and automatic charge has been set for the user, the settlement processing unit executes automatic charge processing to deposit a predetermined amount to the remaining balance from a fund source of the user without requiring the user's operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a payment management device, a payment management method, an application program, a card payment management device, and a payment management system. [Background technology]

[0002] A transaction settlement terminal device that handles debit cards, electronic money cards, or a transaction card that combines the functions of both cards has been disclosed (Patent Document 1). This device is equipped with a first input device for inputting the transaction amount to be settled, and a second input device for inputting a designated payment method, and the payment method for card settlement is switched by a store clerk inputting a designated payment method into the second input device. Electronic money data is recorded on the transaction card. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2001-118022 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-mentioned conventional technology, there are cases where the automatic deposit process of electronic money (so-called auto-charge) is not performed at an appropriate time.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide a payment management device, a payment management method, an application program, a card payment management device, and a payment management system that can improve user convenience by allowing automatic electronic money deposit processing to be performed at a more appropriate time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a payment management device that includes a communication unit that communicates with a card payment management device that provides electronic payment services using a card, and a payment processing unit that performs electronic payments using a variety of payment methods including charge balance payment, and when the payment processing unit receives a request for electronic payment using the charge balance from the card payment management device, and when the user's charge balance is less than the payment amount and auto-charge has been set up in advance for the user, the payment management device executes an auto-charge process to deposit a predetermined amount into the charge balance from the user's fund source without the user's operation. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, one of the objectives is to provide a payment management device, a payment management method, an application program, a card payment management device, and a payment management system that can improve user convenience by allowing automatic electronic money deposit processing to be performed at a more appropriate time. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. [Diagram 2] This is a sequence diagram (part 1) illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. [Diagram 3] This is a sequence diagram (part 2) illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. [Figure 4] 1 is a configuration diagram of a payment server 100 according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of user information 172. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store / store information 176. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an affiliated credit card company server 200. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process flow relating to card payment. [Figure 9]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of card payment setting information 272. [Figure 10] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing an example of a top screen IM1 of a payment application 20 and a payment method switching screen IM2. [Figure 11] 13A and 13B are diagrams showing an example of a top screen IM1 of a payment application 20 and an auto-charge setting screen IM3. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a payment method switching screen IM4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, embodiments of the payment management device, the payment management method, the application program, the card payment management device, and the payment management system of the present invention will be described. The application program, the payment server, and the affiliated credit card company server work together to provide an electronic payment service. In the following description, the application program is referred to as a payment application. In addition, the combination of the payment server and the affiliated credit card company server may be referred to as a payment management system. The electronic payment service is a service that supports payments related to the purchase of goods and services at a store. The store is, for example, a physical store (real store) that exists in the real world, but may also include a virtual store of electronic commerce. The virtual store may include one provided by an entity different from the operator of the electronic payment service. In that case, when making a payment for shopping at the virtual store, the screen is controlled to transition to an interface screen of the electronic payment service. In the electronic payment service, the store is treated as belonging to, for example, an affiliated store (brand), and processing such as payment when a purchase is made at the store is mainly performed between the user and the affiliated store. Alternatively, processing such as payment may be performed between the user and the store.

[0010] [Electronic payment service] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. The electronic payment service is realized mainly by a payment server 100 and an affiliated credit card company server 200. The payment server 100 communicates with, for example, one or more user terminal devices 10, one or more first store terminal devices 50, one or more credit processing terminals 55, and one or more second store terminal devices 70 via a network NW. The network NW includes, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless base station, a provider device, and the like.

[0011] The user terminal device 10 is, for example, a portable terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The user terminal device 10 is a computer device having at least an optical reading function, a communication function, a display function, an input reception function, and a program execution function. In the following description, components for realizing these functions are referred to as a camera, a communication device, a touch panel, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc. In the user terminal device 10, a processor such as a CPU executes a payment application 20, thereby operating to provide an electronic payment service to a user in cooperation with a payment server 100. The payment application 20 is installed in the user terminal device 10 from, for example, an application store, and controls the camera, communication device, touch panel, etc.

[0012] The first store terminal device 50 is installed, for example, in a store. The first store terminal device 50 is a computer device having at least a product price acquisition function, an optical reading function, a program execution function, and a communication function. The first store terminal device 50 includes a so-called POS (Point of Sale) device, and the product price acquisition function and the optical reading function may be realized by the POS device. The store code image 60 is placed in the store, and is a code image such as a QR code (registered trademark) printed on a paper or plastic medium. The store code image 60 may be displayed on a display placed in the store (which may be the display of a terminal device such as a smartphone).

[0013] The credit processing terminal 55 is installed in the store, similarly to the first store terminal device 50. The credit processing terminal 55 includes, for example, a credit card settlement terminal (credit card reader) and a POS device. The credit card settlement terminal reads a PIN (Personal Identification Number) from an inserted or held credit card (including the affiliated card 57) and compares it with the PIN entered by the user, or transmits a BIN (Bank Identification Number) code, etc., read from the credit card to the affiliated credit card company server 200 via the POS device. The POS device cooperates with the credit card settlement terminal to transmit information such as the settlement amount to the affiliated credit card company server 200. An advance payment agent server (acquirer) may be interposed between the credit processing terminal 55 and the affiliated credit card company server 200. In the following, the description of the advance payment agent server will be omitted to simplify the explanation. The affiliated card 57 is, for example, of the same type as a commonly used credit card, with a communication chip embedded in the card substrate. The communication chip includes a storage medium that stores a PIN, and communicates with an external device via a contactor (or a wireless antenna). Alternatively, the affiliate card 57 may be a magnetic card.

[0014] The second store terminal device 70 is used by the operator of the affiliated store. The second store terminal device 70 is a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, or the like. An interface 72 for affiliated stores runs on the second store terminal device 70. The interface 72 for affiliated stores may be an app for affiliated stores or a browser. The interface 72 for affiliated stores accepts coupon settings and the like made by the operator of the affiliated store and transmits them to the payment server 100. The second store terminal device 70, which is a smartphone, has the function of displaying a code image corresponding to a store code image and reading a code image displayed by the user terminal device 10 by executing the app for affiliated stores.

[0015] The payment server 100 realizes electronic payment based on payment information received from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The first store terminal device 50 may include a POS device and an affiliated store server, in which case the payment information is sent from the POS device via the affiliated store server to the payment server 100. In the following explanation, no distinction is made between these two and it is assumed that the payment information is sent from the first store terminal device 50.

[0016] The affiliated credit card company server 200 manages affiliated credit card payments, which are part of the electronic payment service. The affiliated credit card company server 200 is operated, for example, by a group company (affiliated credit card company) of the payment server 100. The affiliated credit card company may be a separate entity from the external credit card company that provides the credit card as a funds source for charging the charge balance.

[0017] 2 and 3 are sequence diagrams illustrating the general flow of electronic payment. There may be two patterns of electronic payment: pattern 1 and pattern 2.

[0018] In the case of pattern 1 (hereinafter referred to as user scan) shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal device 10 with the payment application 20 activated decodes the store code image 60 by the optical reading function (S1). The store code image 60 includes store URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information. This store URL is an electronic payment service domain to which store-identifying information is added, and is associated with an affiliated store ID, a store ID, etc. in the payment server 100 (described later). The payment application 20 transmits the first payment information including the store URL and the account ID to the payment server 100 (S2). The payment server 100 searches for store information (described later) from the affiliated store ID and the store ID corresponding to the store URL, acquires the affiliated store name and the store name information (S3), and transmits it to the payment application 20 (S4). The user inputs the payment amount into the user terminal device 10 on the screen on which the affiliated store name and the store name are displayed (S5). Then, the user terminal device 10 generates second payment information including at least the payment amount, and transmits it to the payment server 100 (S6). The payment server 100 performs electronic payment based on the received second payment information (S7). At this time, if the charge balance of the electronic money is less than the payment amount and the user has performed the auto-charge setting, the payment server 100 performs auto-charge to increase (charge) the charge balance and then performs electronic payment (S71). The auto-charge setting will be described in detail later. Then, the payment server 100 transmits a payment completion notice (information for displaying a payment completion screen) to the payment application 20 (S8), and the payment application 20 displays the payment completion screen (S9). Note that when the store code image 60 is displayed by a display placed in the store, the store code image 60 may include not only the store URL but also information on the payment amount. In this case, the procedure in which the user inputs the payment amount is omitted, and the first payment information is transmitted to the payment server 100 with the information on the payment amount included. Information on the affiliated store name and the store name may be included in the payment completion screen and displayed.

[0019] In the case of pattern 2 (hereinafter referred to as store scan) shown in FIG. 3, when the payment application 20 is started, when a payment operation is performed in the payment application 20, when an automatic update timing (e.g., every minute) occurs, and at other timings, the payment application 20 transmits a request for issuing a one-time code to the payment server 100 (S11). The payment server 100 generates a one-time code (S12) and transmits it to the payment application 20 (S13). The payment application 20 displays a code image such as a QR code or a barcode generated based on the one-time code (S14). The user holds (presents) the display surface of the user terminal device 10 over the first store terminal device 50, and the first store terminal device 50 decodes the code image by an optical reading function and obtains the one-time code, etc. (S15). The first store terminal device 50 then generates payment information including the one-time code, payment amount, affiliated store ID, store ID, etc., and transmits it to the payment server 100 (S16). The payment amount information is acquired in advance by reading a barcode or manually inputting it. The payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the one-time code based on the received information and performs electronic payment (S17). At this time, as in the case of user scanning, if the charge balance of the electronic money is less than the payment amount and the user has performed auto-charge setting, the payment server 100 performs auto-charge to increase (charge) the charge balance and then performs electronic payment (S171). Then, the payment server 100 sends a payment completion notice to the payment application 20 (S18), and the payment application 20 displays a payment completion screen (S19).

[0020] Note that electronic payment may be performed using only one of the above patterns. Furthermore, the "account ID" described in FIG. 2 may be other information (e.g., a phone number) that can be used as user identification information. Furthermore, issuance of a one-time code may be omitted in the store scan, and the payment application 20 may display a code image generated based on the user's account ID. In this case, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the account ID instead of identifying the user corresponding to the one-time code.

[0021] [Payment server] FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the payment server 100 according to the first embodiment. The payment server 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, a payment content providing unit 120, a payment processing unit 130, an information management unit 140, and a storage unit 170. The components other than the communication unit 110 and the storage unit 170 are realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including a circuit unit; circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device having a non-transient storage medium) such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transient storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and may be installed in the storage device by mounting the storage medium in a drive device.

[0022] The storage unit 170 is a HDD, a flash memory, a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The storage unit 170 may be a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device that the payment server 100 can access via a network. The storage unit 170 stores information such as user information 172, payment content information 174, and affiliated store / shop information 176.

[0023] The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for connecting to the network NW. The communication unit 110 is, for example, a network interface card.

[0024] The payment content providing unit 120 has, for example, a function of a Web server, and provides information (content) for displaying various screens of the electronic payment service to the user terminal device 10. The payment content providing unit 120 reads out necessary content from the payment content information 174 as appropriate, and provides it to the user terminal device 10. The user terminal device 10 accepts various inputs by the user while the content is displayed by the payment application 20, and transmits the above-mentioned payment information and the like to the payment server 100.

[0025] The payment processing unit 130 performs payment processing based on the payment information transmitted by the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The payment processing unit 130 performs payment processing while referring to the user information 172. In addition, the payment processing unit 130 performs auto-charge of electronic money based on the user's auto-charge setting when the charge balance meets a predetermined condition, such as when electronic payment is executed or when the charge balance falls below a predetermined amount.

[0026] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the user information 172. The user information 172 is an example of the registration information of a user. The user information 172 is, for example, a user URL, an account ID, a telephone number, a password, as well as information associated with an email address, a user ID, a name, an address, a date of birth, a registration date, a charge balance, a post-payment setting, a post-payment limit, a post-payment usage amount, a post-payment available amount, a payment method setting, a bank account, a credit card number, charge history information, payment history information, and an auto-charge setting. The user URL is used for a remittance process between users. When registering for the electronic payment service, it is necessary to register a telephone number and a password. The account ID is issued to the user by the payment server 100, and the user ID is an ID that can be set by the user at will (does not have to be set). The email address, and the name, address, and date of birth are also information that can be set by the user at will (does not have to be set). The registration date is the date on which the user registered for the electronic payment service (the date on which the account was created). Hereinafter, the user's instance (electronic payment account) to which this information is associated will be referred to as an account.

[0027] The charge balance is information indicating the balance of electronic money that is set by a user by transferring money to the account in advance. The means of transfer include transfer from an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) of a designated company (bank) and transfer from a registered bank account. The deferred payment setting is information indicating whether or not the setting for enabling electronic payment by deferred payment has been completed, and is set to either "completed" or "not completed". The deferred payment setting is flag information common to "terminal payment" and "card payment". A user who can use deferred payment of terminal payment is a user who has been given an affiliated card 57. Alternatively, the setting information may be set separately for "terminal payment" and "card payment". The deferred payment limit is the limit of deferred payment that can be used per month, the deferred payment usage amount is the amount of deferred payment that has already been used in the current month, and the deferred payment available amount is the amount of deferred payment that can be used in the current month, which is calculated by subtracting the deferred payment usage amount from the deferred payment limit. Although only one deferred payment limit is shown in the figure, in reality, there is also a daily upper limit, and the lower of these may be set as the deferred payment limit. Further details of deferred payment will be described later. The terminal payment method setting is setting information indicating whether the user will make an electronic payment using the charge balance or a deferred payment in the "terminal payment". The card payment method setting is setting information indicating whether the user will make an electronic payment using the charge balance or a deferred payment in the "card payment". The card payment method setting information is synchronized in real time with the affiliated credit card company server 200. The bank account and credit card number are information on a bank account or credit card number (account number, card number) that can be used to deposit funds into the electronic payment service. The charge history information is a history of the user transferring money to the electronic payment service in advance to increase the charge balance. The payment history information is information indicating the details of the payment made by the user (date and time, store ID of the store where the purchase was made, payment amount, payment method, etc.) for each payment.

[0028] The auto-charge setting is a setting that enables a so-called auto-charge function that automatically deposits funds from the user's fund source into the user's electronic payment account without user operation when the charge balance of electronic money meets certain conditions. If the user has already implemented the auto-charge setting and the charge balance of electronic money meets certain conditions, the automatic deposit process using the auto-charge function is executed. In this embodiment, the auto-charge setting is a common setting for charge balance payment in "terminal payment" and charge balance payment in "card payment", but different auto-charge settings may be provided for charge balance payment in "terminal payment" and charge balance payment in "card payment".

[0029] 6 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of affiliated store / store information 176. The affiliated store / store information 176 includes, for example, a first table 176A in which an affiliated store ID and a store ID are associated with a store URL, a second table 176B in which an affiliated store name and sales amount (described above) are associated with an affiliated store ID, and a third table 176C in which a store ID is associated with a store ID. In addition to this information, the affiliated store / store information 176 may also include information such as the category of the affiliated store or store, the location of the store, and payment patterns.

[0030] The information management unit 140 manages user information 172 and affiliated store / store information 176 based on information acquired from the user terminal device 10 and the second store terminal device 70. The information management unit 140 adds new records to, edits, and deletes the user information 172 and affiliated store / store information 176.

[0031] [Terminal payment] The electronic payment (terminal payment) using the user terminal device 10 will be described. When the payment processing unit 130 acquires payment information from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50, it refers to the user information 172 and acquires the "payment method setting" of the user. The payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment for a user whose "payment method setting" is set to "charge balance" as follows. The payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment, for example, by decreasing the charge balance managed in association with the user ID and increasing the item value of the sales of the affiliated store. The item value of the sales of the affiliated store is not used as electronic money itself, for example, but an amount corresponding to the item value of the sales is transferred to a bank account in a cycle according to an agreement between the affiliated store and the electronic payment service. Note that if the user has already performed auto-charge settings, if the charge balance is insufficient for the above-mentioned electronic payment, the payment processing unit 130 performs auto-charge to increase (charge) the charge balance and then performs electronic payment.

[0032] The payment processing unit 130 performs electronic payment for users whose "setting information" is set to "deferred payment" as follows. Deferred payment is when an affiliated credit card company acts as the creditor and allows electronic payment that is not dependent on the charge balance within the deferred payment limit. In order to receive the deferred payment service, it may be required to obtain a credit card from the affiliated credit card company. The amount used for deferred payment is settled in one month's worth on the payment date of the following month, for example by debiting from a bank account. In this case, the payment processing unit 130 transmits payment information to the affiliated credit card company server 200 as necessary and requests payment. The affiliated credit card company server 200 performs processing similar to that of deferred card payment.

[0033] [Credit card payment] The electronic payment service provides electronic payment (card payment) using an affiliated card 57 in addition to electronic payment (terminal payment) using the user terminal device 10 as described above. In card payment, payment by charge balance and payment after delivery can be selected. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of the affiliated credit card company server 200. The affiliated credit card company server 200 includes, for example, a credit interface 210, a payment distribution unit 220, a credit payment processing unit 230, an information management unit 240, and a storage unit 270. The credit payment processing unit 230 is an example of a "card payment processing unit". The storage unit 270 stores card payment setting information 272. The components other than the storage unit 270 are realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI, ASIC, FPGA, or GPU, or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as a HDD or flash memory (a storage device with a non-transient storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium (non-transient storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed in the storage device by inserting the storage medium into a drive device.

[0034] The function of each part of the affiliated credit card company server 200 will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a sequence diagram for explaining the flow of processing related to card payment. Note that the processing shown in the figure is conceptual, and in reality, information may be transmitted in multiple parts.

[0035] First, the credit processing terminal 55 reads information from the affiliated card 57 and transmits information such as the PAN (Primary Account Number) and payment amount to the credit interface 210 (S20). The credit interface determines whether the BIN code included in the PAN in the received information is a code for its own company (S21), and if it is a code for its own company, transfers the information such as the PAN to the payment distribution unit 220 (S22). If the code is not for its own company, the affiliated credit card company server 200 discards the received information.

[0036] The payment allocation unit 220 searches the card payment setting information 272 using the transferred information, and determines whether the card payment method setting of the user is a method of making electronic payment based on the charge balance or a method of making electronic payment by post-payment (S23). FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the card payment setting information 272. As shown in the figure, the card payment setting information 272 is information in which information unique to the user (e.g., PAN), the card payment method setting, and the account ID of the user (see FIG. 5) are associated with each other. In the following explanation, the method of making electronic payment based on the charge balance is an example of the first method, and the method of making electronic payment by post-payment is an example of the second method, but this relationship may be reversed. Post-payment means that the payment amount is not immediately deducted from the charge balance, but is deducted from the bank account, etc. associated with the affiliated card 57 at a predetermined time such as the closing date.

[0037] If the card payment method setting of the user is "charge balance", the payment distribution unit 220 transmits payment information including the account ID corresponding to the PAN and the payment amount to the payment server 100 (S24). If the charge balance corresponding to the account ID is equal to or greater than the payment amount, the payment processing unit 130 of the payment server 100 performs electronic payment as is (S241) and returns a notice of payment OK to the payment distribution unit 220 (S25). On the other hand, if the charge balance corresponding to the account ID is less than the payment amount, the payment processing unit 130 refers to the auto-charge setting corresponding to the account ID, and if the auto-charge setting has been implemented, performs auto-charge (S242) before performing electronic payment and returns a notice of payment OK to the payment distribution unit 220 (S25). If the auto-charge setting has not been implemented, the payment processing unit 130 returns a notice of payment NG to the payment distribution unit 220 (not shown). The payment distribution section 220 informs the credit interface 210 that the payment is OK (S26), and the credit interface 210 informs the credit processing terminal 55 that the payment is complete (S27).

[0038] In addition, when the payment server 100 returns a "payment NG" in S25, the credit payment processing unit 230 of the affiliated credit card company server 200 may be configured to automatically change the payment method from the charge balance payment to the credit card payment using the affiliated card 57 without the user's operation and perform the payment process if the user's consent has been obtained in advance. In this case, the user may be able to switch whether or not to automatically change the payment method by setting. For example, the payment application 20 may accept a setting switching operation using a software switch, such as a payment method switching screen IM2 or an auto-charge setting screen IM3 described later, and notify the affiliated credit card company server 200 of the state of the switch after switching. The payment application 20 may notify the affiliated credit card company server 200 of the state of the switch after switching via the payment server 100.

[0039] On the other hand, if the card payment method setting for the user is set to "deferred payment," the payment allocation unit 220 notifies the credit interface 210 of a request for authentication (S28). The credit interface 210 performs existing credit authentication (S29). Here, the PAN and expiration date are confirmed, and it is confirmed whether the cumulative payment amount exceeds the upper limit for the current month. If the credit authentication confirms that the payment is OK, the credit interface 210 notifies the credit processing terminal 55 that the payment is complete (S30), and information such as the payment amount is transmitted to the credit payment processing unit 230 (S31). The credit payment processing unit 230 performs processing such as adding the acquired payment amount to the cumulative payment amount for the user.

[0040] [Payment method setting user interface] Here, the switching between the first method and the second method and the switching of the auto-charge setting are performed in response to the user's operation on the payment application 20. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a top screen IM1 of the payment application 20 and a payment method switching screen IM2. As shown in the left diagram of FIG. 10, for example, the top screen IM1 of the payment application 20 includes an area A1 including code images such as barcodes and QR codes (registered trademarks) used in smartphone payment, an area A2 in which icons for instructing main operations in smartphone payment such as charging and scanning are set, and an area A3 in which various icons for instructing various service settings in electronic payment services are set. An icon IC1 for receiving an instruction to switch the payment method in card payment and an icon IC2 for receiving an instruction to switch the auto-charge setting are set in the area A3.

[0041] When the user operates the icon IC1, the screen transitions to the payment method switching screen IM2 shown in the right diagram of FIG. 10. The payment method switching screen IM2 is provided with, for example, a notation "credit card payment" and a software switch SS1 that can be operated to either ON or OFF. By operating the software switch SS1 to either ON or OFF, the user can set the payment method for card payment to either a method of electronic payment based on the charge balance or a method of electronic payment by deferred payment. When the state of the software switch SS1 is switched, the payment server 100 linked with the payment application 20 notifies the affiliated credit card company server 200 of the state after the switch. For example, the information management unit 140 mainly performs this process, but it may be performed by another functional unit. When the software switch SS1 is switched from an off state to an on state, the payment server 100 instructs the affiliated credit card company server 200 to change the card payment method setting to "deferred payment", and when the software switch SS1 is switched from an on state to an off state, the payment server 100 instructs the affiliated credit card company server 200 to change the card payment method setting to "charge balance". At this time, the information management unit 140 also changes the card payment method setting in the user information 172. In the above, the payment method is selectively set from one of two methods on the payment method switching screen IM2, but the payment method may be selected from three or more methods. For example, one payment method may be selected from "charge balance", "debit card" and "deferred payment" described later. In that case, one of "charge balance", "debit card" and "deferred payment" may be treated as a third method that does not correspond to either the first method or the second method, or the first method or the second method may include multiple methods.

[0042] In this way, the affiliated credit card company server 200 acts as an interface to allocate the payment method for card payments, making it possible to realize two payment methods using the existing credit card information transmission network. This makes it possible to improve user convenience at low cost without building a new information transmission network.

[0043] [Auto-charge settings user interface] On the other hand, when the user operates the icon IC2, the screen transitions to the auto-charge setting screen IM3 shown in FIG. 11. The auto-charge setting screen IM3 has, for example, a notation "Enable auto-charge" and a software switch SS2 that can be operated to either ON or OFF. By the user operating the software switch SS2 to either ON or OFF, the auto-charge can be set to either an enabled state or an disabled state. When the software switch SS2 is switched from an OFF state to an ON state, the payment server 100 changes the value of the auto-charge setting in the user information 172 to "Done", and when the software switch SS2 is switched from an ON state to an OFF state, the payment server 100 changes the value of the auto-charge setting in the user information 172 to "None". In addition, the auto-charge setting screen IM3 has a first setting menu MN1 that accepts a setting operation of the minimum deposit amount (minimum charge amount) when depositing money by auto-charge, and a second setting menu MN2 that accepts a setting operation of the charge method. The charge method may be a withdrawal from a specified bank account, or the charge amount may be paid by post-payment (including credit card).

[0044] As described above, the auto-charge setting in this embodiment is common to the charge balance payment in the "terminal payment" and the charge balance payment in the "card payment". Also, as described above, the auto-charge setting may be provided for each of the charge balance payment in the "terminal payment" and the charge balance payment in the "card payment". In this case, for example, a software switch for terminal payment and a software switch for card payment may be provided on the auto-charge setting screen IM3. Also, for example, different auto-charge setting screens may be provided for the charge balance payment in the "terminal payment" and the charge balance payment in the "card payment". Also, for example, an icon for transitioning to a different auto-charge setting screen for the charge balance payment in the "terminal payment" and the charge balance payment in the "card payment" may be placed on the top screen.

[0045] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a modified example of the payment method switching screen IM2 exemplified in FIG. 10. The payment method switching screen IM4 shown in FIG. 12 further has software switches SS3 and SS4 in addition to the software switch SS1 for setting the payment method in card payment to credit card payment. The software switch SS3 is a software switch for setting the payment method in card payment to credit card payment. The software switch SS1 and the software switch SS3 may be configured to be linked so that when one is turned ON (or OFF) by operation, the other is turned OFF (or ON). The software switch SS4 is a software switch for switching between enabling / disabling auto-charge in the charge balance payment in card payment. In this case, the auto-charge setting screen exemplified in FIG. 11 may be omitted. Also, a payment method switching screen similar to that in FIG. 12 may be provided for terminal payment, or the payment method switching screen IM4 in FIG. 11 may be provided as a setting screen common to both card payment and terminal payment.

[0046] The above-mentioned payment method switching screen and auto-charge setting screen may be configured as an application program (so-called mini-app) that is executed by invoking the start of the affiliated credit card company server 200 on the payment application 20, or may be configured as a function (so-called native app) built into the payment application 20. When configured as a mini-app of the affiliated credit card company server 200, the affiliated credit card company server 200 may transmit information acquired from the payment application 20 via the mini-app to the payment server 100. Also, when configured as a native app of the payment application 20, the payment server 100 may transmit information acquired via the payment application 20 to the affiliated credit card company server 200. In this way, the payment server 100 and the affiliated credit card company server 200 may transmit and receive information acquired via the payment application 20 to each other, so that setting information such as the payment method and auto-charge may be synchronized between the payment server 100 and the affiliated credit card company server 200. By synchronizing the setting information, it becomes possible for the payment server 100 and the affiliated credit card company server 200 to treat the payment method setting and the auto-charge setting as common settings.

[0047] [Auto Charge Notification] In addition, in this embodiment, the payment processing unit 130 of the payment server 100 notifies the user that auto-charge has been executed at least in card payment (auto-charge notification). The form of the auto-charge notification may be email transmission, a pop-up display, or a push notification. The payment processing unit 130 may be configured to notify the user when auto-charge has been executed regardless of whether the payment is card payment or terminal payment. In this case, the payment processing unit 130 may be configured to change the form or content of the notification depending on whether the payment is card payment or terminal payment. For example, the payment processing unit 130 may include the content of the electronic payment that triggered the auto-charge in the auto-charge notification, or, if the auto-charge occurs in card payment, may include information on the contact point for inquiries regarding the content of the electronic payment in the auto-charge notification. By transmitting such an auto-charge notification, it is possible to suppress fraudulent use of the affiliated card 57 and reduce the amount incurred due to the fraudulent use.

[0048] According to the embodiment described above, the automatic deposit process of electronic money can be performed at a more appropriate time, thereby improving convenience for users.

[0049] In the above embodiment, the case where the payment in one electronic payment is completed by one payment method has been described, but the payment in one electronic payment may be completed by combining a plurality of payment methods. For example, in the case of a charge balance payment by card payment, the payment server 100 may be configured to instruct the affiliated credit card company server 200 to pay a part of the amount to be paid by the charge balance payment and to pay the remaining amount by credit card payment using the affiliated card 57. In this case, for example, the payment processing unit 130 of the payment server 100 processes the payment for a part of the amount by the charge balance payment, and then returns information on the difference to be paid by credit card payment to the affiliated credit card company server 200 (S25). The credit payment processing unit 230 of the affiliated credit card company server 200 settles the difference notified by the payment server 100 by credit card payment using the affiliated card 57.

[0050] In the above embodiment, the method of making electronic payment based on the charge balance is an example of the first method, and the method of making electronic payment by deferred payment is an example of the second method, or vice versa, but the present invention is not limited to this. The method of making electronic payment by debiting from a bank account is an example of the first method, and the method of making electronic payment by deferred payment is an example of the second method, or vice versa. The method of making electronic payment by debiting from a bank account is, for example, a method called a debit card, in which the bank account is debited immediately when electronic payment is made. In addition, either or both of the first method and the second method may include multiple methods. For example, the first method may include a method of making electronic payment based on the charge balance and a method of making electronic payment by debiting from a bank account, and the user may be able to unconditionally select any of these methods.

[0051] In the above embodiment, the payment server 100 that cooperates with the payment application 20 to perform electronic payment at a physical store is given as an example of the first device, but if the first method is a method of performing electronic payment by debiting from a bank account or a method of performing electronic payment by post-payment, the "first device" may be a device that exclusively performs card payments. For example, a bank server or the like corresponds to this. Even in this case, the card payment setting information 272 is switched by an application program that cooperates with the affiliated credit card company server 200 or the "first device that exclusively performs card payments."

[0052] The above describes the form for carrying out the present invention using an embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 10 User terminal device 20. Payment App 50 First store terminal device 55 Credit card processing terminal 57 Affiliated Cards 60 Store Code Image 70 Second store terminal device 72 Merchant Interface 100 Payment Server 110 Communications Department 120 Payment Contents Provider 130 Payment processing unit 140 Information Management Department 170 Storage section 172 User information 174 Payment Content Information 176 Affiliated Stores / Store Information 200 Affiliated credit card company server 210 Credit Interface 220 Payment Distribution Department 230 Credit card payment processing unit 240 Information Management Department 270 Storage section 272 Card payment setting information

Claims

1. A card payment management device that provides electronic payment services using cards, A communication unit that communicates with a payment management device that performs electronic payments using multiple payment methods, including the charge balance, A card payment processing unit that performs card payment processing for electronic payment using the aforementioned card method, and A payment distribution unit that requests the payment management device to perform an electronic payment using the charge balance among the payment methods using the card, Equipped with, When the payment distribution unit receives a request for electronic payment using the charge balance from the card payment management device, and the user's charge balance is insufficient for the payment amount, and the user has been set up to use auto-charge in advance, the payment distribution unit requests the payment management device to perform an auto-charge process to deposit a predetermined amount into the charge balance from the user's fund source without any operation by the user, to use the charge balance for electronic payment. If the card payment processing unit receives a response from the payment management device indicating that payment is not possible as a result of a request for electronic payment using the charge balance, it will automatically change the payment method from payment using the charge balance to credit payment using the card and process the payment without any action from the user. Card payment management device.

2. A method for a card payment management device to provide an electronic payment service using a card, A communication step that communicates with a payment management device that performs electronic payments using multiple payment methods, including the charge balance, A card payment processing step that executes card payment processing for electronic payment using the aforementioned card payment method, A payment distribution step in which the payment method using the card is requested from the payment management device to perform an electronic payment using the charge balance, It has, In the payment allocation step, if the card payment management device receives a request for electronic payment using the charge balance, and the user's charge balance is insufficient for the payment amount, and the user has previously set up auto-charge, the payment management device is requested to perform an auto-charge process to deposit a predetermined amount into the charge balance from the user's fund source without user intervention, and to perform electronic payment using the charge balance. In the aforementioned card payment processing step, if the payment management device returns a response indicating that payment is not possible as a result of requesting electronic payment using the charge balance, the payment method is automatically changed from payment using the charge balance to credit payment using the card, and the payment is processed, without any action from the user. Card payment management methods.

3. An application program that operates on a user's terminal device that communicates with a payment management device that performs electronic payments using multiple payment methods including a charge balance, and provides a user interface for setting a payment method for an electronic payment service using a card, The user interface includes setting means for setting the payment method using the card to either electronic payment by credit card or electronic payment using the charge balance. When the user operates the setting means and the payment method is changed, the terminal device will, The payment management device is instructed to transmit the status of the changed payment method. The payment management device notifies the card payment management device, which provides electronic payment services using the card, of the status of the changed payment method, thereby updating the payment method settings information in both the payment management device and the card payment management device. Application program.

4. A communication unit that communicates with a payment management device that performs electronic payment using multiple payment methods including the charge balance, A display unit that shows a user interface for setting payment methods for an electronic payment service using a card, A terminal device equipped with, The user interface includes setting means for setting the payment method using the card to either electronic payment by credit card or electronic payment using the charge balance. If the user changes the payment method by operating the setting means, The communication unit transmits the status of the changed payment method to the payment management device. The payment management device notifies the card payment management device, which provides electronic payment services using the card, of the status of the changed payment method, thereby updating the payment method settings information in both the payment management device and the card payment management device. Terminal device.

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